Home | Away

What’s graphic about the graphic arts?

I was going to shift gears today and blog about baseball, because it has become increasingly apparent that the major leagues are headed for a crisis of world-historical proportions, and they need my help now.

The crisis is this: the entire National League sucks.  With the exception of the Mets, who have finally, finally ended the fifteen-year long national nightmare that was the Atlanta Braves’ domination of the National League East, the National League does not have a single team worthy of playing in the postseason.  And don’t try to tell me that the amazing Padres have blistered the league by winning 23 of 44 since August 1 (true!), or that the surprising and almost-.500 Marlins are a formidable 40-35 at home (also true!), or that the redoubtable Cardinals would be kind of good if they had some pitchers (maybe true!), or that the sparkling Dodgers managed to squeak by the amazing Padres last night. Give it up already.  None of those teams should be allowed in a playoff.  Yeah, we understand that the National League has been flirting for some time with ways of sneaking a 79-83 team into the big dance.  But that’s precisely why this madness has to stop.  Now.

Meanwhile, in the American League, the defending-champion and always-entertaining White Sox and their charmingly non compos mentis manager are going to be squeezed out of the fun by a lethal combination of hungry young Twins and Tigers, late-blooming A’s (I keep asking Oaktown Girl this every year, but when is someone going to inform that club that the season begins in April, not August?), and juggernaut Steinbrenners.  It’s just not right.

So I was going to propose the following solution: at the end of the regular season on October 1, the Mets and the AL leader (currently the Yanks) will get a bye, while the White Sox play the Tigers and the A’s play the Twins.  But extra special box seats will be reserved for the Cardinals, Dodgers, and Padres, so that they don’t miss out entirely on the action.

But it turns out that I can’t blog about any of that, because the impudent and talented (not to say “spunky") Chris Clarke has gone to the enormous trouble of publishing the graphic novel edition of What’s Liberal About the Liberal Arts? I’ve included a hyperlink to this important document on the right sidebar, under the new heading, “Adaptations into other media.” (I use the plural “adaptations” because I’m still hoping that a certain commenter whose initials are N.L.—no, not you, National League! you suck!—will come up with the opera version by the end of the year.) But I thought I owed it to Chris, and to Literature, to table my perfunctory baseball blogging and direct you to this beautiful and inspirational story of brave and hardworking teaching assistants at the People’s Revolutionary State University.

Thank you, Chris.  On behalf of everyone at PRSU, I am deeply touched.

Posted by on 09/19 at 10:43 AM

  1. Spunky, possibly, but is Chris Clarke feisty?

    Posted by Ophelia Benson  on  09/19  at  12:05 PM

  2. What, no mention of the Phutile Phils? This Queens-o-centrism is even worse than Europhallologocarnocentrism!

    Posted by John Protevi  on  09/19  at  12:26 PM

  3. The podcast of the spoons-and-washboard-a-la-Hee-Haw adaptation is currently in post-production.

    Posted by Roxanne  on  09/19  at  12:36 PM

  4. Champagne-Banana Illinois, saaaa-LOOT!

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  09/19  at  12:50 PM

  5. At this point, the Yankees and A’s have no affect on the Chisox ability to make the postseason.  All the blame belongs to the Tigers and Twins.

    Posted by  on  09/19  at  12:59 PM

  6. I am an old National League fan, but yes, it’s true, the entire league is basically a disaster this year. That the Phillies should be in striking range of the playoffs given their performance this year is completely absurd.

    Posted by Timothy Burke  on  09/19  at  01:01 PM

  7. Congratulations, Michael!  It must be exciting to see your work adapated.

    Posted by Blar  on  09/19  at  02:09 PM

  8. Sure, I loves them Dodgers for the usual reason, accident of birth (I’m straight outta Compton), as well as the fact that my beCub-Scout’d self pumped the paws of Duke Snider, PeeWee Reese, Wally Moon, Don Drysdale, Gil Hodges et al—although I was heartbroken by the no-show of the greatest Dodger of all, Vin Scully.

    Oh, if I could only find the baseball they autographed. For eBay.

    Plus I was there when Sandy Koufax no-hit the Mets.

    Still, I’ve never been much a leagueist, much less a teamist. Every October I root for the underdog of the moment, a temporary lifelong fidelity. Go Sox! Any Sox!

    Except for the Braves. I’ll always despise the Braves. No intelligent person can tolerate a Braves game because of that ghastly, tasteless chant of theirs. Did James Horner compose that?

    Posted by David J Swift  on  09/19  at  02:12 PM

  9. I don’t know what Europhallologocarnocentrism, but I kind of like the sound of it…

    Posted by  on  09/19  at  02:21 PM

  10. That charmingly non compos mentis manager described the Mets, accurately, as a team that would finish fourth in the AL Central.

    GO TWINS!

    Morneau for MVP!

    Santana for Cy Young!

    Gardenhire for Manager of the Year!

    And so on.

    Posted by  on  09/19  at  02:30 PM

  11. In support of the Cardinals—object of my childhood’s diamond affections—I would like to propose for your consideration one valid reason to support them in the post season, regardless of their record.

    They are not the Cubs.

    Thank you for choosing a refreshing Budweiser beverage!

    Posted by  on  09/19  at  02:44 PM

  12. the entire National League sucks
    Well interestingly, the only teams under .400 at the moment are in the American League, though i am relatively competent that the Cubs will achieve this distinction quite soon.  The hapless Mariner’s aren’t far from .500, but i am also depressingly confident they won’t make that pinnacle (for them) by Oct 1. 

    David Swift, what wonderful memories you bring for me as well.  We were at that same game, and probably many more like it during those years (including the ones at the LA Coliseum).  I still would have loved to have seen more of Roy Campanella catching the likes of Drysdale and Koufax. 

    And as i posted over at the northern creek, i am anxiously awaiting the Grand Theft University version of the book, complete with advanced linguistic weapons, and special shields designed from intergalactic proto-daho-genetic material re-engineered to defend and offend against its own kind. 

    damn, there are anti-literate gremlins running the captcha word machine today failing to add the apostrophe in “youre"… must i type the incorrect word?? Yes, i must.

    Posted by  on  09/19  at  03:43 PM

  13. Interestingly enough, the AL had a 121-77 record against the NL in interleague play. 

    Also interestingly enough, the two AL teams under .400 at the moment - KC and TB - both had winning records against the NL.

    Posted by  on  09/19  at  03:54 PM

  14. Hey, if you like baseball at all, you had to like that Dodgers-Padres game last night.  4 consecutive home runs to tie in the bottom of the 9th?  A walkoff HR to win in the 10th?

    Ok, I can see where I’m not wanted.

    Posted by Linkmeister  on  09/19  at  04:06 PM

  15. I’ll wait for the ABC miniseries adaptation of the book, if you don’t mind. I daresay The Rock is ready to demonstrate his dramatic chops as the Department Chair. Who would be good as Chanterelle and Mei-Ling?

    Posted by Orange  on  09/19  at  04:07 PM

  16. Who would be good as Chanterelle and Mei-Ling?

    Need you even ask, Orange? Obviously it’s Mary-Kate Olsen and Steve Buscemi.

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  09/19  at  04:29 PM

  17. You know, I was actually thinking of Buscemi for the role of John.

    Posted by Orange  on  09/19  at  04:38 PM

  18. Physics lecture at PRSC as presented in The Triumphant Peasant, the opera based on the graphic novel.

    The head of the student PRSC Student Judicial Assembly passes judgment on a backsliding conservative student.

    Punishment is meted out to conservative students who have failed in the responsibilities to the collective.

    Posted by Bill Benzon  on  09/19  at  05:07 PM

  19. Yes blah, i did notice those statistical data points.  I wonder if the “national” (actual captcha word below, go figure) league were to adopt the DH rule, would that improve the overall performance of the teams, as well as improve their W/L record against the American league?

    Will there be a Noh theater performance before the end of the year?  And will you consider licensing the Cirque du Soliel to create a new Vegas show based on the tome???

    Posted by  on  09/19  at  05:20 PM

  20. After his stunning performance during the Stanley Cup playoffs, I sincerely hope Michael will predict that my A’s will be swept in the first round of the playoffs.

    Posted by  on  09/19  at  05:24 PM

  21. The Mets, ranked #3, are the National League’s sole representative in the top 8 per the statistics-based reality of Baseball Prospectus. BP gives the White Sox a healthy 94% chance of not making the playoffs.

    Posted by black dog barking  on  09/19  at  07:51 PM

  22. Finally a graphic version those of us (Trotskists) who have not memorized the little red book - probably a requirement for reading any screed of a dangerous academic like Michael - can understand.

    Posted by  on  09/19  at  08:10 PM

  23. After his stunning performance during the Stanley Cup playoffs, I sincerely hope Michael will predict that my A’s will be swept in the first round of the playoffs.

    Um, Ben, be careful what you wish for.  I was actually four for four in my first-round Cup picks.  Your Lords of the Second Half have a good shot at taking the slumping Tigers, though.

    Finally a graphic version those of us (Trotskists) who have not memorized the little red book

    Splitter!  All remaining members of the Committee of the Fourth International will report to the sheep meadow for re-education at 5 am tomorrow morning!

    Posted by Michael  on  09/19  at  10:52 PM

  24. Splitter!  All remaining members of the Committee of the Fourth International will report to the sheep meadow for re-education at 5 am tomorrow morning!

    ICFI? You are trying to offend me, comrade! And judging by the graphic version of the book (who wouldn’t love the Kandinsky mural, btw - genius), you should be reported to the polit buro for insufficient adherence to the mass line. The question is: are you a right deviationist or an ultra leftist? I’ll ask D. Ho. if I see him, he is well versed in all matters sectarian, and has clearly studied you very closely.

    Aside: you know how undergrads sometimes ask at the beginning of the semester how they should call you ("Professor" or by first name) - I dare you to answer “call me comrade Berube”.

    Posted by  on  09/19  at  11:12 PM

  25. (In The Simpsons Dr. Nick’s voice):
    Hey Everybody!

    The A’s excuse (which has some legitimacy) for their annual slow start is that as a consequence of their low-budget status, every year they have so many different players it takes some time to get the “chemistry” together. This year was better than most, however, and our Green and Gold was not forced to climb out of a 15-games back hole...for a change.

    This year’s miracle was not overcoming a slow start, but overcoming endless injuries. I told Michael earlier in the year we’d be just as well to field the local community college team, it got so bad.

    But if the A’s make the playoffs, I’m praying for anybody but the Twins. The Twins own the A’s, (or, what’s that Internets word..."pwned"?).

    Congrats to the Mets. The only thing that keeps me from being really happy for Mets fans is that this probably means twice as much of Guiliani’s phoney- ass smug-ugly mug on my TV box come October.

    Posted by Oaktown Girl  on  09/20  at  05:33 AM

  26. Classical rhetoric is not dead in the blogosphere. I note with delight Professor Bérubé’s adept use of occupatio in his post.

    [PS Perhaps I could get on board with your playoff format, if only the AL would drop the abomination of the DH. I would like to see a few playoff games in which managers will have to make some decisions.]

    Posted by John  on  09/20  at  09:22 AM

  27. I’m all about the occupatio, John!  And I’m pretty shameless about deploying the ol’ captatio benevolentiae, too.

    I’ve come around to the traditionalists’ side on the DH.  Back in the day, I used to say (a) who wants to watch some .083-batting pitcher try to bunt, (b) the AL league average in the late 60s was something like .210, and (c) the NL’s hideous cookie-cutter Astroturf parks were every bit as much an affront to the game.  But now that the AL can bat again and the NL has returned to the soil, I say lose the damn DH already.

    Posted by Michael  on  09/20  at  09:38 AM

  28. My commitment to pricipal prevents me from mentioning that abandoning the dh would, I’m afraid, shorten the career of the great David Ortiz.

    [Still working on my occupatio usage as I prepare my manuscript: What’s Rhetorical About the Rhetorical Arts? Alas, no publishers seem interested.]

    Posted by John  on  09/20  at  09:50 AM

  29. Of course, they probably reject me because I can’t spell “principle.”

    Posted by John  on  09/20  at  09:52 AM

  30. Adapations into other media
    Certainly appropriate since as far as I can tell the book itself is simply a rather liberal adaptation of The Gulag Archipelago. (Cedar Rapids et al, shall their names* live in infamy.)

    People’s Revolutionary State University… PRSU
    Personally, I have for a long time (well since 1998) been an advocate of just getting it right out in the open and renaming it Central Central Pennsylvania (CCP) University. Not that anyone is fooled, what with being chartered by a Commonwealth and being located in Centre County, (American not good enough I guess, had to go with the French variant.)

    But apparently there are those yet to succumb and who still fight the hegemony with the tools at their disposal. (For a more thorough appreciation of their tactics see here. - Or this may in fact be a dramatic rendering of the shattering of the fragile minds of unsuspecting students by the beer can projectiles of university indoctrination.)

    * It did strike me in writing this that no individual location in the Soviet Gulag has entered the lexicon. Hmmm ... Mani H. Zarathustra! It’s all true! If I only had the words to describe the nefariousness. Not that I see any profit in bringing it up here in this forum.

    Posted by  on  09/20  at  10:01 AM

  31. John, at first I thought you were saying that losing the DH (and the W’s it facilitates for the AL) would mean we couldn’t spell David Horowitz’s name. And then I realized that’s exactly what the clever Professor Bérubé was getting at by combining these two subjects in a single post. Is there a name for that rhetorical device?

    Posted by Orange  on  09/20  at  10:01 AM

  32. You people just couldn’t do it, could you? Just couldn’t let a baseball discussion go by without ranting against the DH. Predictable as… well, something that’s totally and completely predictable!

    Posted by Oaktown Girl  on  09/20  at  10:04 AM

  33. Math/stat practice problem of the day:

    True or false: the fact that the AL has superior teams implies that one should expect the teams with the worst record to be AL teams.

    Posted by  on  09/20  at  10:07 AM

  34. The People’s Committee on Deprecation of the Ongoing Desecration of the Glorious Purity of Baseball wish to express ideological support with the ranters.

    Math/stat practice problem of the day:
    For full credit; answer for both pre- and post- Interleague play.

    Posted by  on  09/20  at  10:15 AM

  35. Oaktown Girl: Yes, I’m afraid that I am a living, breathing cliché. Also, I don’t like greedy owners or the Yankees’ payroll.

    Orange: You just sent me in a panic to my reference books (the usual response of pedants like me to any kind of cleverness). DH/David Horowitz . . . perhaps some kind of elaborate zeugma? Anything to avoid class-prep . . .

    Posted by John  on  09/20  at  10:20 AM

  36. But O-girl, ranting against the D.H.O. (Designated Hitter Ortiz) is exactly what we do around here.  When we’re not otherwise occupatioed, that is.

    Posted by Michael  on  09/20  at  10:27 AM

  37. That graphic novel is brilliant. Away with all non-bush-hating Pests. The stinking 9s of AEI must be denounced.

    Posted by  on  09/20  at  10:32 AM

  38. I’d like to express my undying solidarity with The Peoples’ Committee on Deprecation of the Ongoing Desecration of the Glorious Purity of Baseball.  The idea that David Ortiz could or should win the MVP award is an affront to the game.  You’re a great hitter, Big Papi, but put on a glove and play the whole game and then we’ll talk about MVP. 

    My favorite anti-Yankees stat is this:  The Yankees’ payroll is something like $70 million higher than the next-highest payroll.  The Twins’ and A’s payrolls are (I think) both less than $60 million.

    Posted by  on  09/20  at  10:52 AM

  39. That’s a good one. My favorite: the Florida Marlins’ total payroll is about $14.4 million; the Evil Empire has five *players* who make more than that and three more who make over $13m.

    We need more socialists in the big leagues.

    Posted by John  on  09/20  at  11:15 AM

  40. Ophelia in 1: Chris is middle-aged, which is to say: too old to be spunky, too young to be feisty. If he doesn’t watch out with all this sobriety and exercise business he’ll end up chipper instead of crusty, too. Lord knows I’ve tried to set a better example.

    Posted by Ron Sullivan  on  09/20  at  11:38 AM

  41. Watchit Ron. You’re only about 15 years from “spry” yourself.

    In other news, <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/54910>the right has no monopoly on cluelessness.</a>

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  09/20  at  11:41 AM

  42. dammit. here.

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  09/20  at  11:42 AM

  43. All Hail the Twins, one of the few teams in baseball that still builds its roster by drawing on the talent within its own farm system, rather than going out and buying obnoxious and expensive free agents.

    Posted by  on  09/20  at  11:53 AM

  44. Hi Chris, I think I see the problem. The commenters fell for the old inverse Borges / Cervantes / Menard trick. You see, they were criticising the second, inferior, Chris Clark version rather than the infinitely richer, but in this case prior, Chris Clarke version.

    Posted by John Protevi  on  09/20  at  11:58 AM

  45. Welcome to the Twins Bandwagon, GY!  Yes, this year the Twins originally tried buying obnoxious and cheap free agents (Ruben Sierra) or just plain cheap free agents (Tony Batista).  That didn’t work, so they went back to the home grown boys (Bartlett, Punto, et al).  And The Greatest Twins Trade Of All Time (Pierzynski for Nathan, Liriano and Bonser) sure didn’t hurt.

    Posted by  on  09/20  at  11:59 AM

  46. Spry? Was that Northrup Spry?

    Posted by Bill Benzon  on  09/20  at  12:10 PM

  47. "Cliche” John - re: the DH -

    Just to be clear, I don’t have a horse up that flagpole one way or another, so I don’t care if anyone looks it in the mouth for free or not. I just get tired of hearing about it over and over and over. That’s all I’m saying. Other people clearly enjoy getting into DH pissing contests with dogs, but I’m happy to let that sleeping skunk lie.

    The Peoples’ Committee on Deprecation of the Ongoing Desecration of the Glorious Purity of Baseball.

    That sounds dangerously ("dangerally" in Berube-ese?) communistic. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for getting everyone on this thread added to the Do Not Fly list who wasn’t already on it.

    Posted by Oaktown Girl  on  09/20  at  12:38 PM

  48. …Chris Clark is a liberal environmentalist (hell, he co-founded Pacifica radio).

    The same year he integrated Major League Baseball!

    Posted by  on  09/20  at  02:09 PM

  49. Pacifica Radio founded: 1949
    Me born: 1960

    I think that sums up the unprecedented, world-altering nature of my genius rather well, don’t you? Imagine the loss to humanity had I been contraceived. Bill Mandel might have had to sell shoes for a living.

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  09/20  at  02:19 PM

  50. Pacifica Radio founded: 1949
    Me born: 1960

    Weird. And here I thought that the rise of liberalism meant that procreation halted in its tracks.

    Posted by Auguste  on  09/20  at  02:21 PM

  51. I see that people are confusing Chris Clarke, dear friend and better-than-liberal environmentalist, with Chris Clark, well-known right-wing Washington fixture and the founder of Pacifica radio.

    Did I mention that my mother’s maiden name is Clarke?  That’s how I keep such good track of these things. 

    Posted by  on  09/20  at  02:53 PM

  52. My “modest” proposal for Major League Baseball is to adopt the Promotion and Relegation scheme used in European soccer and many other leagues around the world. Undoubtedly, it would be a tough pill to swallow for places like Pittsburgh & Milwakuee which at best would be in a constant fight to stay up against inevitable bounders from the Sun Belt. But it leads to a much more dynamic and visible process for new teams coming in, and mitigates some of the weirdness associated with the massive economic distance between major and minor leagues.

    And yes the ChelseasYankees of the world would continue to rule in that scheme.

    Posted by  on  09/20  at  03:02 PM

  53. I was (and this is true) saying the same thing about promotion/relegation to my wife a few days ago (as I waited for her patented eye roll that inevitably follows one of my diatribes). Plus it would be great fun to see names like the “Chicks,” “Isotopes,” and “Mudcats” make it to the bigs.

    Posted by John  on  09/20  at  03:15 PM

  54. No one ever confuses me with anyone hot, dammit.

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  09/20  at  03:17 PM

  55. Oaktown Girl suggests that a the local community college team, could have substituted for the A’s.  I would think that the UC Berkeley women’s softball team would make a better alternate (but some of them are now on the US National Team).  My only thought re: DH (okay there are many other thoughts about DH’s ) is that if one league has it and one doesn’t, such a difference creates glitches in statistical comparisons.  Either both should have it or both shouldn’t.  The original arguments for it, pre-dated the latest team configurations that have rosters including three sets of pitching staffs.  Next thing you know we will have slots for pinch hitting DH’s (like that other DH staff?).

    No one ever confuses me with anyone hot, dammit.
    I believe that Chris is being disingenuous here, in that at some point on his blog he posted a recent photo of himself, to which a commenter appended a comparative homage to John Lennon; that’s pretty hot. 

    wow-- first time in days the captcha word has been cool for me= freedom… as in all of gods’ children gotta have their freedom

    Posted by  on  09/20  at  04:42 PM

  56. Why knock the Yankees when we could nationalize their assets? Then we could re-educate them to play a real game, like hockey.

    That’s the only way to test the real mettle of Mo Rivera. Make him the goalie and see if he can handle Gordie Howe.

    Till then, I continue to root for a Subway series with DH David ‘Pap’ Horowitz facing Wildman Berube in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7. I doubt I’ll get my wish, however, because the track’s clearly blocked in Minnesota.

    Posted by Kevin Hayden  on  09/20  at  05:25 PM

  57. Spyder, I’m reasonably certain that at this point I look better than John Lennon does.

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  09/20  at  06:39 PM

  58. Wait, so is the book published under a Creative Commons license? I’d be interested to know if you’re allowing anyone to make derivative works of the book.

    Posted by Dan Kurtz  on  09/20  at  09:54 PM

  59. One more time, with a little less subtlety:

    Adapations into other media?

    Adapations?  Adapate?

    Posted by Blar  on  09/20  at  10:33 PM

  60. Michael, in case you missed it, Blar/h is referring to the fact that you left some letters out where you meant to type “Addlepated excursions into other media.

    Captcha: george. Why do you hate America?

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  09/20  at  10:39 PM

  61. Oh, I spelled it right once.  That should be sufficient.

    For the record, I hate America because of its “standardized spelling” nonsense.  At least in other countries you can talk English any way you want.

    Posted by Michael  on  09/20  at  11:01 PM

  62. Leave blah out of this, he had nothing to do with it.

    Michael, there’s only one man to blame for the missing letters, and you know who that is.  Captcha: bush

    Posted by Blar  on  09/20  at  11:39 PM

  63. there was a time when you could steal images from something

    And the Little Sisters do seem to have a history of addlepated excursions. As best as a man and his Google can piece it together:

    The “original” was apparently an animated film based on a true incident in Inner Mongolia (apocryphal?). A book said to be based on the film, was printed in 1973 (see bottom of this page). This may be the book you used, Chris - your graphics are very close to the film. There was also a pipa concerto composed in the early ‘70s.

    Not sure if these count as preadaptations of WSLATLA or not, but it certainly is easier to search than to compose, write or draw.

    Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:14 AM

  64. That was indeed the book I desecrated, JP.

    Posted by Chris Clarke  on  09/21  at  01:19 AM

  65. JP, what’s that capital S in the acronym right after the strange spelling of addlepations with a bold t?  I figure it has something to do with a World Series between Los Angeles and the other Team from Los Angeles, but there’s no way the Angels are going to clamber into the postseason now.

    Posted by Michael  on  09/21  at  07:44 AM

  66. what’s that capital S in the acronym

    Don’t worry about the ‘S’ Prof. B. It don’t mean shit.

    ... Turns out that in my mind I had renamed the book “What’s So Liberal ...”. But I guess it didn’t change back in RealityWorld™. (But based on current precedent, I am now reevaluating my chances for the White House in 2008.)

    And, besides, who’s to say that book titles need to be subject to close reading? In fact I heard somewhere that semi-illiterate interpretative contestations really are where it’s at.
    For instance “Picture of the Writer as Being a Young Man, Like” works for me.
    Or translating sprezzatura as “effortless grace”.
    Or reading Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman as I ♥ Muslims.

    Posted by  on  09/21  at  09:20 AM

  67. Because I enjoy wasting time on trivial shit, have no life find it intriguing to explore the ecelectic threads of inquiry that arise on this blog, I found the following interesting academic article by a Mongolian studying in the US, which puts a coda on Chris’ heroic sisters. As might be expected for an “exemplary tale” from the Cultural Revolution, it has some interesting twists in areas such as Mongolian/Chinese relations. (Find the Foucault cite for extra credit.)

    But it appears that there might be a need for some historical revisionism. Chris, of course, owns the final word, but my gloss would be:

    After the provost of the University retired 25 years later (and who had used the reflected glory of the incident to great personal benefit), it became known that the course had actually been rescued by the intervention of crusty old classicist who was out of favor at the time for filing a grievance against the dean.

    Posted by  on  09/21  at  01:18 PM

  68. I hereby nominate JP Stormcrow for the Two Sisters Medal of Valor for Searching the Internets Above and Beyond the Call of Duty in Service to the Glorious Peoples Revolution.

    Posted by Bill Benzon  on  09/21  at  01:43 PM

  69. I think sales would go up if you added an audio gizmo to the book cover so when you opened it you’d hear (just like Ronnie sang): “Read Michael Bérubé! Ah, wah, oh, oh, oh, oooh!”

    Posted by  on  09/21  at  10:43 PM

  70. Tucker Carlson suggests that the graphic (comix) novel version of WLAtLA is a danger to all that is Right and good in the US

    From the September 21 edition of MSNBC’s Tucker:

    CARLSON: If there was ever any doubt we’ve closed the book on Dick and Jane, here’s the definitive proof. It’s a new children’s book. It’s entitled Why Mommy is a Democrat. What’s Liberal About the Liberal Arts.

    The publisher describe it as a nonjudgmental explanation of the PRCS Adjunct Party’s policies—peace and tolerance, as they put it. Still, if parents read between the lines, they might see the book’s not-too-subtle swipes at President Bush De Horror and his fellow Republicans and Conservative wingnutters. Fans say it’s perfect bedtime reading for Democrats CredoMats of all ages.

    It is, of course, propaganda, and it’s always and everywhere wrong and creepy and should be obviously a bad thing to do to impose your politics on children. Doesn’t matter what your politics happen to be. Kids ought to be immune from politics.

    Be quiet, don’t push it on them. Childhood should not be a political time of life. There’ll be enough time for that later. Knock it off. As if people needed to be told.

    Posted by  on  09/23  at  01:21 PM

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Submit the word you see below:


Next entry: Suitable for any occasion

Previous entry: Over the weekend

<< Back to main